Tissue Culture Shared Resource - Bassem R. Haddad, MD The Tissue Culture Shared Resource (TCSR) is an integral part of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (Lombardi) research activities. The Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) has provided funding to the facility since 1993. Dr. Bassem R. Haddad has served as the Resource Director since January 2002. The role of the Resource is to assist investigators with all of the tissue culture related aspects of their work and to maintain the Lombardi cell line repository. To this end, the TCSR provides consultation, facilities and services to a diverse group of investigators involved in cancer research. Specifically, the TCSR: Maintains the Lombardi cell line repository and provides frozen vials or live cultures of these lines to investigators. Equips, monitors, stocks, and services four separate shared tissue culture laboratories for the use of investigators who do not have facilities to perform tissue culture in their own laboratories or who need additional tissue culture space. Prepares, tests, and supplies tissue culture reagents of the highest quality that have been specifically tested for suitability in the relevant systems, as inexpensively as possible. Provides mycoplasma testing and genetic fingerprinting of cells. Provides expert consultation regarding the use of tissue culture techniques in cancer research and provides training to investigators at all levels in the use of this technology. Provides a safe, secure cryo-storage facility for investigators to keep frozen stocks of their cancer cell lines. Provides a B-cell transformation service to facilitate cancer genetics studies. The Resource continues to be heavily utilized by a large number of Lombardi members: of 67 users in 2008, 57 were Lombardi members from five programs, and 50 of these had peer-reviewed grants. In addition, the TCSR provides laboratory services to five other Lombardi Shared Resources.